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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.60.12.3
How to Cite:
Melnychuk, O., Yaremenko, O., Kronivets, T., Opolska, N., & Overkovska, T. (2022). Protecting the rights of children in the armed
conflict: the tasks before the state government. Amazonia Investiga, 11(60), 32-38. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.60.12.3
Protecting the rights of children in the armed conflict: the tasks before
the state government
Захист прав дітей в Україні в умовах збройного конфлікту: завдання державної
влади
Received: December 8, 2022 Accepted: December 30, 2022
Written by:
Olha Melnychuk10
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4229-621X
Oleksandr Yaremenko11
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3053-2257
Tetiana Kronivets12
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5506-3418
Natalia Opolska13
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1507-0178
Tetiana Overkovska14
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1686-5688
Abstract
The critical condition of the rights of children
during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by
Russian military forces demonstrates the urgent
need for better ways of their protection. It is a
State’s duty to design a set of measures aimed at
effective protection of the rights of children in
critical situations. The paper aims to review
ongoing as well as long term tasks of the state
authorities regarding the protection of children’s
rights in an armed conflict. The article uses the
general scientific method as well as the legal
method of scientific investigation. It is based on
the authors' observations as witnesses of Russian
military aggression, as well as on surveying
internally displaced persons and refugees. The
authors conclude that the authorities of Ukraine
have to resolve a number of current and long-
term tasks. The current tasks include nearest
means and remedies for protection of children
who became victims of the military conflict. This
includes performing highly organized safe
evacuation of children from the areas of military
10
Doctor of Law, Professor, Head of the Department of Public Legal Disciplines of the Faculty of Law, Public Management and
Administration of Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, Ukraine.
11
Candidate of Science of governance, Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Public Management and Administration of
Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, Ukraine.
12
Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Fundamental and Private Law Disciplines of the
Faculty of Law, Public Management and Administration of Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, Ukraine.
13
Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of Public and Legal Disciplines of the Faculty of Law, Public Management and
Administration of Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, Ukraine.
14
Сandidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Public and Legal Disciplines of the Faculty of Law, Public
Management and Administration of Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, Ukraine.
Melnychuk, O., Yaremenko, O., Kronivets, T., Opolska, N., Overkovska, T. / Volume 11 - Issue 60: 32-38 / December, 2022
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action, repatriation of children from abroad and
returning internally dislocated persons to the de-
occupied territory of Ukraine, repatriating
deported children back to Ukraine, and
administering measures to address the basic
needs of children in times of war. The long-term
tasks concerning the protection of rights of
children include, among others, the development
of a comprehensive policy for protecting the
rights of children, creating a governmental body
that would perform a consolidating function in
relation to the protection of children’s rights,
reforming the justice system in relation to
children, and deinstitutionalizing the area of
children’s rights.
Keywords: rights, children, protection, armed
conflict, state power.
Introduction
A full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian
military forces has brought new challenges for
the government, society, international order, and
demonstrated the fragility of human rights as a
legal construct and a critical value. All civilians,
and especially children as the most vulnerable
category, became victims of Russian military
aggression. The Russian military commit all the
serious offenses against children possible during
a military conflict, as postulated by the United
Nations Security Council resolution 1261
(1999): killing and mutilation of children, rape
and other forms of sexual violence, kidnapping
and forceful dislocation, recruitment and use of
children in military conflicts, attacking the
objects protected by international law, such as
places that frequently host a big number or
children (schools and hospitals), and refusing
children’s access to humanitarian aid.
According to official sources, as of December
2022, 450 children in Ukraine were killed, 867
were injured, 328 are considered missing, and
13613 were deported (Children of War, 2022).
Unfortunately, these statistics may not be final
and appear to increase daily.
Torture of children by the Russian military is
evidenced by the exhumation of bodies on the
liberated territories in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy
and Kharkiv regions, and by discovery of the
“child cell” in Kherson region used to detain
minors who joined anti-Russian protests and
those children whose parents are in opposition to
Russian authorities (Lubinets, 2022).
The violation of children's basic right to
education is eloquently evidenced by the
intentional damage and destruction of
educational institutions by the Russian
Federation, forced Russification, and the
imposition of Russian education standards.
The scale of systematic gross violation of rights
of children in Ukraine in times of war indicate
the critical condition of this issue. Although the
need to enhance the protection of children's rights
had existed before the start of the war, the
Russian military invasion has brought
unprecedented casualties and new challenges.
The Temporary Investigation Commission of the
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine concluded that the
system of protection of children's rights is
unbalanced (Resolution No. 2266-IX, 2022).
The problem of protection of children's rights
under the conditions of military aggression is
paramount not only for Ukraine but for all
democratic countries without exception. The
need for efficient policy concerning children is
"acknowledged by all countries and supported
internationally" (Perezhniak, Melnychuk, &
Matiiko, 2021, p. 145). Therefore, the issue of
protection of children's rights by public
authorities remains on the agenda, requiring
scientific understanding and a practical solution.
Literature Review
The way the armed conflict, which has been
going on for over eight years on the territory of
Ukraine, affects the rights of children, has
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attracted the attention of the scientific
community. The literature in this area can be
conditionally divided into two groups, developed
either before or after the full-scale invasion of
Ukrainian territory by the Russian Federation the
territory of Ukraine. The first group includes a
thorough dissertation study by Stepanenko
(2021), devoted to theoretical and legal issues of
protection and ensuring the rights of children in
the context of military operations in Donbas. We
share the researcher's statement that the rights of
children who are located on the territory of a
military conflict "are extremely vulnerable, and
exist alongside imperfections and inadequacies
of the legal mechanisms for their protection"
(Stepanenko, 2021, p. 5).
Skrypnyuk and Tokarchuk (2020) recognized
that there is a systematic violation of the
fundamental rights of children (such as right to
life, to dignity, to free access to education, to free
national development, health, etc).
Other scientists also contributed to the
development of the problem of protecting the
rights of children during military operations in
the east of Ukraine; see Kryvyovyaz (2017),
Opolska (2015), Frantzuz and Balykin (2018),
and others.
The large-scale armed attack of the Russian
Federation on the territory of Ukraine on
February 24, 2022 led to massive, hitherto
unseen violations of children's rights, resulting in
a wave of new scientific research. In this regard,
the report on the human rights situation in
Ukraine for the period from February 1 to July
31, 2022, prepared by the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner (United Nations,
2022), is of value. Worthy of attention is the
report of public organizations, which briefly
describes the key events of the war from August
24 to September 24, 2022, in particular, related
to the situation, problems and needs of children
in Ukraine and abroad (Shcherban,
Rozvadovska, Chernousov, Levkina, & Sheiko,
2022).
Zavorotko, Korynevych, and Korotky (2022)
elucidated the classification of war crimes
committed by Russian servicemen against
children of Ukraine, as well as the mechanisms
for bringing them to justice.
Peculiarities of protection of children's rights in
the conditions of hostilities and armed conflicts
were revealed by Melnychuk (2022).
Despite a certain contribution of scientists to
solving the problem, we believe that the
relevance of the topic indicates the need for
further research. Therefore, the authors of the
article aim to reveal the current and long-term
tasks of the state authorities in ensuring the
protection of children's rights in the armed
conflict.
Methodology
The study is based on the general scientific and
legal methods of scientific inquiry. Thus, the use
of analysis, synthesis, induction, and deduction
made it possible to establish relationships
between the large-scale armed attack of the
Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine
and the worsening of the situation of children's
rights and mass violations in this area.
The systemic method contributed to the integrity
of understanding the problem and finding ways
to solve it by outlining short-term and strategic
tasks of public authorities related to ensuring full
protection of children's rights.
The formal legal method was used to study the
content of national and international legal acts
that regulate children's rights.
Having objectivity of the research results in
mind, the authors of the article gathered
information from diverse sources and drew
conclusions based on their own observations as
witnesses of the Russian military aggression.
The work is based on the results of in-person
surveys of internally displaced persons, as well
as conversations with relatives and acquaintances
who left Ukraine and became refugees due to
safety considerations. In order to avoid
secondary traumatization and minimize stress in
children, the authors of the article refrained from
interviewing this category of population.
Results and Discussion
In the conditions of an international armed
conflict, the effectiveness of the protection of
children's rights depends on both sides, that is,
Ukraine on the one hand, and on the
conscientious fulfillment of international legal
obligations by the Russian Federation on the
other hand. The protection of children's rights is
complicated by the fact that certain measures rely
on an agreement with the adversary state
regarding the safe evacuation of the wounded,
the diseased, children, as well as free passage of
parcels with medicines and sanitary materials,
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baby food, clothes, exchange of family
correspondence, etc. It is especially difficult to
ensure the rights of children who are in the zone
of hostilities, as well as in the temporarily
occupied territory, where Ukraine cannot
actually control Russian Federation's compliance
(Melnychuk, 2022).
According to the conclusions of public
organizations, in the first days of the war, the
evacuation process involved a number of
challenges. There was not enough transport and
it was not well adapted for delivering children to
the evacuation trains, in particular children with
disabilities and those who are raised in
institutional care facilities (SOS Children's
Villages in Ukraine, 2022). The work on safe
evacuation of children continues as hostilities on
the territory of Ukraine go on. The parties should
draw conclusions regarding the proper
organization of the safe evacuation of children
from the territories of hostilities.
Simultaneously with the de-occupation of the
territory of Ukraine, the state authorities need to
carry out work on the return of 6415 children, of
which 1953 are within the borders of Ukraine,
and 4462 are abroad. Special attention should be
paid to orphaned children and children deprived
of parental care (The Government Courier,
2022).
Large-scale hostilities caused mass displacement
of the civilian population, resulting in serious
consequences for the exercise of human rights,
including economic and social rights (United
Nations, 2022, p. 7). In these conditions, Ukraine
faced the task of normalizing the legal status of
internally displaced persons. According to the
Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, as of
August 31, 2022, as many as 4572600 internally
displaced persons were registered in Ukraine, of
which 3210300 left their place of residence after
February 24, 2022 (The Government Courier,
2022). Children who are included in the Unified
Information Database on Internally Displaced
Persons receive monthly assistance, but the
amount is small and cannot cover the expenses
they need. Therefore, in this difficult time, the
assistance from UNICEF gives significant
support for Ukrainian families.
It is necessary to further improve the mechanism
of providing social services to those children who
find themselves in difficult living conditions due
to social risks. In Ukraine, there is an extensive
network of institutions that carry out social work,
but in the conditions of the socio-economic crisis
caused by the war, not every community is able
to provide adequate social security. Therefore, it
is necessary to provide a subvention from the
State budget for the development of such key
social services as day care for children with
disabilities, supported accommodation, support
during inclusive education, inpatient care, etc.
The updating or development of new state
standards of social services, their development in
communities, could become the basis for
carrying out the reform of deinstitutionalization
in the sphere of protection of children's rights. As
an example, it is advisable to take the experience
of European countries in which it is not
customary to send children to institutions; rather,
adoption or family forms of alternative care
become a priority for placement of children who
have lost parental care.
In the conditions of a large-scale armed attack,
Ukrainian children were forcibly taken to the
territory of the Russian Federation. Therefore,
currently the state authorities of Ukraine are
taking measures to return the deported children
in cooperation with international organizations,
although this work is progressing with difficulty.
A number of state bodies deal with the search and
return of deported children, such as the Ministry
of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Office of the
Prosecutor General, the National Police of
Ukraine, the Authorized Advisor to the President
of Ukraine on Children's Rights and Child
Rehabilitation, the Human Rights Commissioner
of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and other
entities. We believe that in the difficult
conditions of wartime, the International
Committee of the Red Cross should maximize
effort; indeed, the organization has the mandate
to search for children and return them to Ukraine.
As systematic gross violations of the rights of
children by Russian servicemen in Ukraine go
on, the Council conclusions on the European
Union (EU) Strategy on the Rights of the Child
(Council of the European Union, 2022) serve as
the guideline for all European states including
Ukraine. This is in line with Ukraine's strategic
agenda to join the (EU) and its newly obtained
status of a candidate for becoming an EU state.
In this document, the Council of the EU
recognized the need to strengthen the protection
of children's rights in crisis or emergency
situations, in particular during armed conflicts,
because in such conditions children are the least
protected category of the population. In order to
effectively protect the rights of children, the
Council of the EU recommends that the member
states should: 1. Develop a comprehensive and
adequate policy, as well as measures for its
implementation in order to ensure children's
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rights. 2. Increase the efforts of member states to
prevent all forms of violence and to counter it. 3.
Develop and support the proper implementation
of EU legal guarantees to protect the basic rights
of children in crisis or emergency situations
without discrimination, listen to the opinion of
children and take it into account, considering age
and maturity, while having the best interests of
the child in mind. 4. Strengthen the justice
system of member states so that it meets the
rights of all children. 5. Increase children's
opportunities to be responsible and sustainable
members of digital society. 6. Actively
contribute to the work of the EU Network, which
was created by the European Commission to
promote dialogue and mutual learning between
member states.
Therefore, the authorities of Ukraine faced a
strategic task of the development of a
comprehensive policy in the field of children's
rights. The issue is really urgent, since the
country still lacks a National Strategy for
Ensuring Children's Rights and an Action Plan
for its implementation. Back in the fall of 2021,
the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine began
work on its development, but, obviously, the full-
scale invasion of the Russian Federation slowed
down this process. Despite the war, the
protection of children's rights cannot be put on
hold, therefore, this issue must be solved
systematically, by adopting a comprehensive
negotiated document, because fragmented
changes do not provide results. It is necessary not
only to adopt a document of strategic importance,
but also to develop a plan for its implementation,
supported by the necessary human, financial, and
technical resources. Due to the importance of the
law in the Ukrainian legal system, we believe that
in the future it is necessary to develop and adopt
a comprehensive Law of Ukraine "On the Rights
of the Child", which would fully include the
provisions of the Convention and its Optional
Protocols (Postup Human Rights Center, 2011).
The implementation of a comprehensive policy
on the protection of children's rights is possible
with the strengthening of cooperation and
coordination of actions between all relevant
bodies and interested parties. In Ukraine, there is
a lack of a central executive body that would
perform a consolidating function in ensuring and
protecting children's rights. Despite the adoption
by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of a
resolution on the establishment of the State
Service for Children (Resolution No. 23, 2022),
this body is not yet operational. Currently,
Ukraine has an extensive system of state
authorities that take care of the protection of
children's rights, but such a structure does not
necessarily encourage efficacy. We believe that
the activities of the State Service for Children's
Affairs will provide an opportunity to create an
effective system of executive authorities whose
competence will include the issue of protecting
children's rights.
Public authorities should continue to reform the
justice system for children. We share the opinion
that the juvenile justice system in the aspect of
human rights best serves the goals of juvenile
rehabilitation and the interests of society (Safran,
2012). A condition for creating a favorable
environment for the protection of children's
rights is the involvement of not only public
authorities, but also non-governmental
organizations, mediators, and volunteers in
implementing the reform. It is through joint
efforts through the implementation of a set of
legal, social, medical, educational, and other
measures that an effective mechanism for the
protection of children's rights can be provided.
In Ukraine, it is necessary to implement a culture
of children's rights, to teach the younger
generation to exercise and protect their rights. In
order to do this, the state policy in the field of
children's rights should include measures to
increase their awareness and education. Above
all, knowledge about children's rights should be
possessed by the children themselves, as well as
professionals who work with them, politicians,
civil servants, judges, prosecutors, other legal
practitioners, national human rights institutions
and civil society organizations, etc. Therefore,
institutional education should include
educational programs on human rights in general
and children's rights in particular. The war
showed that it is necessary to teach children,
parents, and teachers the skills to combat stress
and build resilience in crises. We believe that it
is expedient to create a research institution in
Ukraine focusing on the protection of children's
rights and to ensure the training of specialists for
work in this field.
Conclusions
The large-scale armed attack by Russian troops
on the territory of Ukraine unveiled the
vulnerability of children's rights and the need to
strengthen their protection both at the state level
and internationally. In these difficult life
circumstances, with which children cannot cope
on their own, the duty to ensure their rights is
primarily entrusted to the State. However, the
effectiveness of the protection of children's rights
during an armed conflict also depends on the
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fulfillment of international obligations by the
adversary state that grossly and systematically
violates them.
To protect the rights of children, Ukraine must
solve a complex of current and long-term tasks.
The current tasks are a set of immediate means
and ways to protect children affected by the
armed conflict. These include conducting an
organized safe evacuation of children from the
territories of hostilities, returning children from
abroad and internally displaced persons to the de-
occupied territories of Ukraine, returning
deported children to Ukraine, and taking
measures to ensure the basic needs of children in
the times of war. Long-term tasks regarding the
protection of children's rights are designed for a
long-term perspective, in particular development
of a comprehensive policy in the field of
protection of children's rights, adoption of a
comprehensive law on children's rights, creation
of a body that would perform a consolidating
function regarding the protection of children's
rights, reforming the justice system for children,
deinstitutionalization in the field of children's
rights, and others.
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